Golden Trout Wilderness/Cottonwood lakes

Migolito · Post by **Migolito** » Tue May 17, 2011 4:05 pm

Hello,
I'm planning a fishing trip to the Cottonwood lakes. Can anyone who's been there give me some 'what to expects' for this trip?

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Tue May 17, 2011 4:27 pm

When?

Are you hiking into the lakes each day or camping at them?

The Horseshoe Meadow Campground is a great place to camp and you can venture into the different lakes and no permit is required, where as it is if you camp at the lakes, the trial to the lakes is fairly easy. If you go in the next couple weeks, the road may not be open to Horseshoe yet, better to check with the rangers in Lone Pine and maybe post something over on the Whitney Portal Message Board asking conditions up there. That area (parking wise) is just below 11,000 feet and it's been quite the winter in that area. Good luck, happy hunting (I'm mean fishing)

Zach · Post by **Zach** » Tue May 17, 2011 5:05 pm

Ditto what Lilbitmo said. Trail starts near 10k and only climbs about 2k ft over approx. 6miles to the highest lake. This time of year there will no doubt be snow on the ground. I've been there in June and still had patches of snow about the place. As far as fishing is concerned, the golden trout are AWESOME! I believe the lower 4 lakes are catch and release only and the 5th lake you can keep. Only thing is you can't use bait, artificial lures only. Also, since its pretty high up its cool almost all the time and can get windy. Bring warm gear! There's some camping spots near lake 3 with some tree cover but it can get busy (depending on the weekend) I recommend hiking up to the 5th lake and camping amongst the boulders... much more peaceful with awesome views of old army pass and the towering flanks of langley.

Migolito · Post by **Migolito** » Tue May 17, 2011 5:15 pm

I guess I could have been more detailed. Yes, I'm looking at sometime in July for maybe a couple of nights. I'm going to be trying my new Ebay special Copper Spur. It looks like I need a permit for overnites. From what I've read, squidos are prevalent...and maybe a bear or two. So, I guess I'll need to get a bear canister-I've been putting that off. Anyone have some good trout recipes

gwjones00 · Post by **gwjones00** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:00 am

Doubt there will be any bears up above the timberline - especially since the pickings are so easy at Whitney Portal. But - check with the Forest Service - Bear Cannisters are *required* in many areas up there. If so, no big deal - you can rent them up there for something like $5 a day.

And yes - mosquitoes will be prevalent at that time of year with snow melt and all. Have fun!

DukeJH · Post by **DukeJH** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:49 am

Bear canisters are required at Cottonwood Lakes and cost around $5 to rent at the multi agency center in Lone Pine. The hike in to the lakes is relatively easy, save for the altitude.

East side road conditions are being tracked at http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/eastsi ... 58070.html.

Snow conditions for the Sierra can be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/PAGE6. Cottonwood Lakes is down the page in the Owens River/Mono Lake watershed. As of today, the sensor does not show snow (or is out of service).

robnokshus · Post by **robnokshus** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:21 pm

Migolito wrote: ↑ Anyone have some good trout recipes

Towards the tail end of a nice weeklong sojourn in the Three Island Lake area of the Sierra several years ago, my buddies and I happened to catch a bunch of Golden Trout. Seeing as we were near the end of our trip, these fish were going to be dinner, but, as they were all fairly small, frying wasn't really an option. We went through our various food bags with one person pulling out a package of dried potato soup, another some garlic and finally some curry powder. We boiled the trout and removed the bones, added the soup mix, garlic and curry powder and had the most AMAZING Golden Trout chowder you could ever imagine!

I still remember this as one of the best meals I have ever had in my life; good friends, fresh Golden trout and unbelievable scenery. Yeah, that's living!

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:46 pm

robnokshus wrote: ↑Towards the tail end of a nice weeklong sojourn in the Three Island Lake area of the Sierra several years ago, my buddies and I happened to catch a bunch of Golden Trout. Seeing as we were near the end of our trip, these fish were going to be dinner, but, as they were all fairly small, frying wasn't really an option. We went through our various food bags with one person pulling out a package of dried potato soup, another some garlic and finally some curry powder. We boiled the trout and removed the bones, added the soup mix, garlic and curry powder and had the most AMAZING Golden Trout chowder you could ever imagine!

I still remember this as one of the best meals I have ever had in my life; good friends, fresh Golden trout and unbelievable scenery. Yeah, that's living!

Freakin' NICE!

HJ